ANKIT'S PRIORITIES
FOR DC
DC STATEHOOD
Achieving statehood for D.C. will be Ankit’s #1 priority as Shadow Senator, and Ankit has a plan to make it happen.
Ankit will work across the aisle with Republicans to get them to see the injustice and racism of denying over 700,000 Americans, a majority of whom are people of color and a plurality of whom are Black, the right to vote. If that is unsuccessful, Ankit will use his connections with pro-democracy advocacy organizations and congressional offices to push for D.C. statehood to be included in the big pro-democracy bill Democrats have advocated for over the past several years. Then, the next time Democrats have full control of government, he will work with the entire statehood and pro-democracy community to push that bill through the House. He will push for the Senate to create a filibuster exception for that bill and pass the bill through the Senate on a simple majority vote. Finally, he will work to ensure the President signs it into law.
CONGRESSIONAL INTERFERENCE IN DC AFFAIRS
Ankit will work as hard as he can to protect all local D.C. laws from being overturned by Congress and to prevent Congress from passing federal laws dictating local policy to the city, no matter his personal opinion on the issues. Ankit believes the Shadow Senator position can lead and coordinate efforts by the statehood community to keep Congress’ hands off DC and can ensure that the movement is being as effective as possible. Ankit will be especially focused on protecting any update the Council passes to D.C.'s over 100-year-old Criminal Code to ensure D.C. has a modern Criminal Code that properly deals with crime. He will also fight fiercely to protect the Local Resident Voting Rights Act of 2021 that granted the right to vote in local elections to non-citizens, including the Treasurer of Ankit’s own campaign, and which Congress has already tried to overturn.
FEDERAL FUNDING FOR DC DEMOCRATIC PRIORITIES
Ankit will work as D.C.’s elected advocate before the Senate to ensure that Congress properly funds D.C. priorities in the bills it is moving. He will fight against proposals that provide D.C. less funding than other states or that block our local government from spending its own money. For example, Ankit will work to eliminate the congressional budget prohibitions on providing local funding for abortions for low-income women and for legalizing marijuana. He will also work to secure federal funding for important local priorities, such as annual operating expenses for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Association (WMATA) to address WMATA’s fiscal cliff, and funding to build either the Blue Line Loop or Silver Line Express–either of which would greatly improve Metro’s service levels and connectivity.
FEDERAL GUN LAWS TO PREVENT CRIME
D.C. is experiencing a devastating crime spike. Gun violence takes more lives by far than any other kind of violence in the District of Columbia. While D.C. has strong local laws regulating guns, it is very close to several states where anyone can buy a gun without a background check and bring it back to the District. D.C. is also dealing with a rise in crimes committed by “ghost gun” kits that are shipped to D.C. from suppliers all over the country. Congressional Republicans often attack D.C. for its high crime rates, but Congress deserves as much blame for this as our local government. Ankit will use his platform as Shadow Senator to push Congress to pass common-sense federal gun laws that will reduce crime more than any other step the government can take.
LOCAL CONTROL OVER HOUSING
Congress currently imposes a limit on how tall buildings in Washington D.C. can be. Ankit believes that these kinds of local issues should be left to the D.C. Council, which is actually equipped to balance the tradeoffs between preserving D.C.’s skyline and building more housing to reduce D.C.’s high rent and home prices. Ankit will work with the D.C. government to remove the congressionally-imposed Height Act so that the Council can impose a height limit that is informed by the perspectives of D.C. residents.
ENSURE DIVERSE ELECTED LEADERSHIP THROUGH CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES
Ankit believes that as many communities as possible should have representation in their legislature. D.C.’s current system of electing one representative for each of eight wards does not accomplish that goal. Under the D.C. Constitution, when D.C. becomes a state the size of the Council (to be renamed the Legislative Assembly) will be expanded by electing one additional representative per ward. But this system also does not grant proper representation for minority communities. Two years after statehood is achieved, a Constitutional Convention will be held to consider amendments to the D.C. Constitution. Ankit will work with people across D.C. to try to build a consensus on changes that should be made to the D.C. Constitution during that Convention to ensure that minority communities (such as the Latino and LGBTQ+ communities) are able to elect representatives of their choice, while ensuring majority communities maintain their fair share of representation. This could include proportional representation (potentially paired with an increase in the number of representatives), reducing the size of districts and increasing their number, or some other solution.